Big F-ing bang, then LCA gave in a little

Was replacing my front shocks with 5100's, oem coils at 1.75
Loosend lca's completly, yet they only moved enough to be in the way, tried a bar, bottle jack, it was like they had a rubbery resistence to them and I could not move them down and out of the way.
Are they supposed to drop "loose" right out of the way? All I got was a big bang, and then a little more space.
Is there a trick to getting them out of the way, I used the "lower jack" method to release the spring tension when replacing the shock.

 

If you look at the lca they have a sleeve in the center. That "bites" into the tab mounts. Then the rubber bushing is attached to the sleeve and the outer sleeve. It's all connected as 1 thing, This makes the lca sit in one spot when you disconnect the spindle. It will keep it from going up and down. The spot where it sits is where your trucks factory ride hight is.

Well if those tabs are squeezed too tight it holds the inner sleeRomans lca from pivoting.

 

So it sounds like maybe I broke on of the tabs that the sleeve bites into.
I'll check it later this morning.
Thank you for the explanation, I couldnt figure the darn thing out.

 

Would I be ok dropping the bar only, the 4 bolts holding it up, or does the end link have to be unbolted too? I tried that bolt, and it kept spinning, didnt have anything small enought to hold the other spinning side.

 

6mm allen goes into the end then wrench the nut off .

 

Good I will. Thanks.